Dirac and the Swiss loudspeaker manufacturer PIEGA are presenting a joint project to develop the world’s most advanced car audio system, shown in a custom-built BMW iX at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich.
The system combines PIEGA’s in-house loudspeaker technology with Dirac’s AudioIQ and Dimensions for an immersive, studio-quality sound experience. The result is a 45-channel demo system with Dolby Atmos that can run in several configurations – from 19 channels up to 40 active channels in a full COAX multichannel set-up.
Dirac AudioIQ is the foundation of the system and optimises the cabin’s acoustic environment with frequency and impulse correction, active crossover management and sound-field control for consistent sound quality in every seat. Dirac Dimensions, a patented upmixer, creates immersive multichannel sound even from ordinary stereo material.
PIEGA contributes its ribbon loudspeaker technology, developed over several decades. Two main configurations are demonstrated in the demo car: a 19-channel solution with magnetostatic tweeters and a 28-channel version with COAX midrange/tweeter units that combine magnetostatic technology with a coaxial point source for greater precision and dynamics.
“This demo vehicle shows what is possible when craftsmanship meets software innovation. With 45 loudspeakers in several configurations, the complexity can only be managed through Dirac’s software-defined architecture,” says Roger Kessler, Head of R&D and Automotive at PIEGA.
